Insights into the electronic and atomic structures of cerium oxide-based ultrathin films and nanostructures using high-brilliance light sources

• Paola Luches and
• Federico Boscherini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 860–871, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.65

• XANES and gas chromatography was employed to correlate in real time the changes of the chemical state of Cu, Fe, and Ce cations with oxygen vacancy and water formation during thermal treatments in hydrogen at ambient pressure [58]. The pure ceria film, in the Ce4+ oxidation state with a dominant Ce L3

Thickness dependent oxidation in CrCl₃: a scanning X-ray photoemission and Kelvin probe microscopies study

• Shafaq Kazim,
• Rahul Parmar,
• Maryam Azizinia,
• Matteo Amati,
• Muhammad Rauf,
• Andrea Di Cicco,
• Seyed Javid Rezvani,
• Dario Mastrippolito,
• Luca Ottaviano,
• Tomasz Klimczuk,
• Luca Gregoratti and
• Roberto Gunnella

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 749–761, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.58

• . This turns the system from a surface Mott–Hubbard insulator to a charge-transfer [8] one in spite of Cr being an early transition metal [32]. What can be presumed from the present study is that Cl–O exchange following Cl vacancy formation is limited in very thin layers because of the limited diffusion

• air we observed the huge Cl vacancy signature in Cl 2p core levels (i.e., a low-energy component at 198 eV). Our conclusion is that the thin CrCl3 layers are more difficult to be modified because of the high energy of defect formation and the rapid quenching of them by mobile free atoms; this is

N₂⁺-implantation-induced tailoring of structural, morphological, optical, and electrical characteristics of sputtered molybdenum thin films

• Usha Rani,
• Kafi Devi,
• Divya Gupta and
• Sanjeev Aggarwal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 495–509, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.38

• films, enhancing their performance in applications such as photovoltaic devices, energy storage, and integrated circuits. (A) Nitrogen ion trajectories, (B) distribution of ions, (C) distribution of losses due to ionization, and (D) vacancy distribution in a Mo thin film. GXRD patterns of as-deposited

Impact of adsorbate–substrate interaction on nanostructured thin films growth during low-pressure condensation

• Alina V. Dvornichenko,
• Vasyl O. Kharchenko and
• Dmitrii O. Kharchenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 473–483, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.36

• can have nanometer-scale linear dimensions [10][11]. Experimental observations showed that nanometer-scale vacancy islands can arrange into a perfect triangular lattice when a single monolayer of Ag is deposited on a Ru(0001) surface at room temperature [12]. Similar elongated nanometer-sized islands

Effect of radiation-induced vacancy saturation on the first-order phase transformation in nanoparticles: insights from a model

• Aram Shirinyan and
• Yuriy Bilogorodskyy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1453–1472, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.117

• /bjnano.15.117 Abstract By employing a model of nanomaterials with polymorphic phase transitions and using a thermodynamic approach to describe the effects of vacancy saturation, irradiation dose, powder dispersion, and surface energies, we demonstrate the possibility of radiation-induced phase

• confirmed by calculations for iron particles under irradiation. Substances characterized by high vacancy migration energy, small diffusion coefficients of defects, and low temperatures of first-order phase transitions can serve as suitable candidates for radiation-induced phase transitions in nanosystems

• . Ceramic nanomaterials, which possess high vacancy migration energy, will have their behavior significantly influenced by radiation doses. In contrast, most metals exhibit small vacancy migration energy and demonstrate better resistance to irradiation, making them recommended candidates for nuclear

Aero-ZnS prepared by physical vapor transport on three-dimensional networks of sacrificial ZnO microtetrapods

• Veaceslav Ursaki,
• Tudor Braniste,
• Victor Zalamai,
• Emil Rusu,
• Vladimir Ciobanu,
• Vadim Morari,
• Daniel Podgornii,
• Pier Carlo Ricci,
• Rainer Adelung and
• Ion Tiginyanu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 490–499, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.44

• in vacuum, as shown in Figure 5b. As it has been shown previously, the oxygen vacancy defects in nanocomposite materials can act as active centers during photocatalytic oxidation processes by capturing photoinduced electrons, thus contributing to a substantial improvement of photocatalytic activity

Unveiling the nature of atomic defects in graphene on a metal surface

• Karl Rothe,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 416–425, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.37

• smallest defects appear as a depression without discernible interior structure suggesting the presence of vacancy sites in the graphene lattice. With an atomic force microscope, however, only one kind can be identified as a vacancy defect with four missing carbon atoms, while the other kind reveals an

• intact graphene sheet. Spatially resolved spectroscopy of the differential conductance and the measurement of total-force variations as a function of the lateral and vertical probe–defect distance corroborate the different character of the defects. The tendency of the vacancy defect to form a chemical

• bond with the microscope probe is reflected by the strongest attraction at the vacancy center as well as by hysteresis effects in force traces recorded for tip approach to and retraction from the Pauli repulsion range of vertical distances. Keywords: atomic force microscopy and spectroscopy; graphene

Investigating ripple pattern formation and damage profiles in Si and Ge induced by 100 keV Ar⁺ ion beam: a comparative study

• Indra Sulania,
• Harpreet Sondhi,
• Tanuj Kumar,
• Sunil Ojha,
• G R Umapathy,
• Ambuj Mishra,
• Ambuj Tripathi,
• Richa Krishna,
• Devesh Kumar Avasthi and
• Yogendra Kumar Mishra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 367–375, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.33

• subsequently transfers its energy to the atoms of the target material in all the collisions and finally stops. When this energy transfer is sufficient, a displacement of atoms from their equilibrium positions creating a vacancy or a recoil occurs. Alternatively, if the ion energy is high enough such recoils

Controllable physicochemical properties of WO_x thin films grown under glancing angle

• Rupam Mandal,
• Aparajita Mandal,
• Alapan Dutta,
• Rengasamy Sivakumar,
• Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava and
• Tapobrata Som

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 350–359, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.31

• structural, optical, and electrical properties of glancing angle-deposited NS-WOx thin films, where NS-WOx films of different thicknesses (6–60 nm) are prepared by rf sputtering and exposed to post-growth annealing at 673 K in vacuum (2 × 10−7 mbar). The role of increased oxygen vacancy concentration (OV) on

• concentration within a metal oxide film is known to influence its bandgap and work function values. As OV increases, there is a corresponding rise in electron concentration within the bandgap region, which results in the formation of certain localized electronic states associated with these vacancy defects

Isolation of cubic Si₃P₄ in the form of nanocrystals

• Polina K. Nikiforova,
• Sergei S. Bubenov,
• Vadim B. Platonov,
• Andrey S. Kumskov,
• Nikolay N. Kononov,
• Tatyana A. Kuznetsova and
• Sergey G. Dorofeev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 971–979, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.80

• credited to a significant contribution of van der Waals interactions in the studied structure (The P–P distance in the vacancy was 3.22 Å, which is lower than the doubled van der Waals radius of phosphorus [35]). Slight shifts of frequencies are not uncommon for DFT calculations in such cases even when

• XRD evidence that SiP NPs are formed when phosphorus is present in less than an equimolar quantity with respect to hydrogenated silicon. As cubic SiP and Si3P4 are very similar in structure, they are quite likely to be miscible at the nanoscale resulting in a “vacancy doping” scenario with possible

Ultralow-energy amorphization of contaminated silicon samples investigated by molecular dynamics

• Grégoire R. N. Defoort-Levkov,
• Alan Bahm and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 834–849, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.68

• . The 500 subsequent bombardments with their collision cascades lead to the displacement of target atoms, creating disorder and point defects. Hydrogen and oxygen atoms get mixed into the target and can get trapped at interstitial or vacancy sites. The different kind of defects are not intrinsically

Transferability of interatomic potentials for silicene

• Marcin Maździarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 574–585, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.48

• the SO(3) smooth power spectrum potential (SO(3)) fitted to the ground-state of the crystalline silicon structure, strained structures, slabs, vacancy, and liquid configurations from DFT simulations ACE [45]: the machine-learning-based (ML-IAP) variant of the atomic cluster expansion potential (ACE

Plasmonic nanotechnology for photothermal applications – an evaluation

• A. R. Indhu,
• L. Keerthana and
• Gnanaprakash Dharmalingam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 380–419, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.33

• curvature [35]. Finally, changes to the material composition, such as through doping or vacancy processing, can affect the LSPR because of changes in the free electron density, the electron effective mass, and the electronic band structure in general [36][37]. An understanding of the changes in absorbance

Recent trends in Bi-based nanomaterials: challenges, fabrication, enhancement techniques, and environmental applications

• Vishal Dutta,
• Ankush Chauhan,
• Ritesh Verma,
• C. Gopalkrishnan and
• Van-Huy Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1316–1336, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.109

• approach for the in situ synthesis of a series of oxygen-vacancy (OV)-rich Bi0/Bi-based photocatalysts [80]. A new understanding of how Bi0 nanoparticles and OVs are created in situ in Bi-based photocatalysts has been reported. Compared to other Bi-based photocatalysts, Bi0/OV–(BiO)2CO3 showed high

• for separating photogenerated electrons and holes. As a result of the Fe doping, an impurity energy level was produced close to the VB, and an imperfection (oxygen vacancy) energy level was produced close to the CB. Both of these energy levels are in a position to potentially accept photoinduced holes

Theoretical investigations of oxygen vacancy effects in nickel-doped zirconia from ab initio XANES spectroscopy at the oxygen K-edge

• Dick Hartmann Douma,
• Lodvert Tchibota Poaty,
• Alessio Lamperti,
• Stéphane Kenmoe,
• Abdulrafiu Tunde Raji,
• Alberto Debernardi and
• Bernard M’Passi-Mabiala

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 975–985, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.85

• hybridized with unoccupied Ni 3d states. The intensity of this pre-edge peak, however, reduces upon the introduction of a single vacancy in the 2Ni-doped zirconia matrix. The corresponding ground state remains ferromagnetic, while one of the nickel atoms adopts a trigonal bipyramidal geometry, and the other

• spectrum shows a further decrease in the intensity of the pre-edge peak, compared to the case of a single vacancy. Thus, the changes in the intensity of the pre-edge peak evidence a major structural change in the local environment around nickel atoms and, by extension, in the zirconia matrix. This change

• and magnetic order in a typical diluted magnetic oxide. Such a finding may be crucial for spintronics-related applications. Keywords: defect; ligand field; nickel; oxidation state; oxides; spectroscopy; spintronics; vacancy; X-ray absorption; X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES); zirconia

Sodium doping in brookite TiO₂ enhances its photocatalytic activity

• Boxiang Zhuang,
• Honglong Shi,
• Honglei Zhang and
• Zeqian Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 599–609, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.52

• confined within the range of 1–3 nm; here, we call it the nanodomain. One nanodomain can develop into the neighboring domain by lattice distortion (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S4a1), interstitial atom, and atomic vacancy (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S4a2). However, these microstructures

Tin dioxide nanomaterial-based photocatalysts for nitrogen oxide oxidation: a review

• Viet Van Pham,
• Hong-Huy Tran,
• Thao Kim Truong and
• Thi Minh Cao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 96–113, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.7

• vacancy defects (OVs) [15][16]. Therefore, SnO2 is considered a potential material in various technological fields such as catalysis, optoelectronic devices, rechargeable lithium batteries, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, solar energy conversion, and gas sensing [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. In the

• band structure, which remains critical for studying charge separation [29]. In another study, a SnO2–Zn2SnO4 Z-scheme photocatalyst system was prepared with a graphene modification to create surface vacancy sites in the composite, which contributed to an enhanced photoactivity in the oxidation of NO

• . Katsiev; J. M. Burst; U. Diebold; A. M. Chaka; B. Delley, Phys. Rev. B, vol. 72, article no. 165414, 2005). Copyright (2005) by the American Physical Society. This content is not subject to CC BY 4.0; (b) SnO2(110) surface including a bridging oxygen vacancy (1-bridging oxygen; 2-bridging OV; 3-oxygen

Measurement of polarization effects in dual-phase ceria-based oxygen permeation membranes using Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Kerstin Neuhaus,
• Christina Schmidt,
• Liudmila Fischer,
• Wilhelm Albert Meulenberg,
• Ke Ran,
• Joachim Mayer and
• Stefan Baumann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1380–1391, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.102

• electrons are trapped at oxygen vacancy sites, allowing also for singly charged () or uncharged (VO) oxygen vacancies in close vicinity to Ce3+ ions [31][32], which show a strongly lowered mobility. For low temperatures, the common electroneutrality equation for acceptor-doped ceria can be shortened, as

Impact of electron–phonon coupling on electron transport through T-shaped arrangements of quantum dots in the Kondo regime

• Patryk Florków and
• Stanisław Lipiński

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1209–1225, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.89

• occupation n = 2, two with double occupancy on the single dot and a vacancy on the other dot {(0,2), (2,0)} and four states with single occupancy on each of the dots {(↑,↑), (↑,↓), (↓,↓), (↓,↓)}. For the discussed case of these first states are energetically lower by than the latter. It is well known that

Is the Ne operation of the helium ion microscope suitable for electron backscatter diffraction sample preparation?

• Annalena Wolff

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 965–983, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.73

• displacements, replacement collisions, vacancy formation, and a collision cascade as well as backscattered ions, secondary ion emission, and ion implantation. A more detailed description of ion–solid interactions can be found in [20][21]. The difference between different ion species, energies, and incident

• determine the resulting interaction volume of the ions for the various conditions as well as vacancy formation and implanted impurity concentration. In addition, the achieved results are compared to those achieved by the conventionally used argon ion polishing (PIPS) and electropolishing approaches. Results

Prediction of Co and Ru nanocluster morphology on 2D MoS₂ from interaction energies

• Cara-Lena Nies and
• Michael Nolan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 704–724, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.56

• stability of metal clusters on MoS2, and how these interactions change in the presence of a sulfur vacancy, to develop insight to allow for a prediction of thin film morphology. The strength of interaction between the metals and MoS2 is in the order Co > Ru. The competition between metal–substrate and metal

• –metal interaction allows us to conclude that 2D structures should be preferred for Co on MoS2, while Ru prefers 3D structures on MoS2. However, the presence of a sulfur vacancy decreases the metal–metal interaction, indicating that with controlled surface modification 2D Ru structures could be achieved

• (Supporting Information File 1, section S4) show that vdW forces do not dominate in these types of structures. The defective ML has the same structure as the pristine ML, except that a single S atom has been removed to create a vacancy and the ions are relaxed with no symmetry constraints. Using H2S as a

A review of defect engineering, ion implantation, and nanofabrication using the helium ion microscope

• Frances I. Allen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 633–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.52

• through site-selective irradiation, rather than through chemical functionalization of its surface. Nakaharai et al. irradiated supported single-layer graphene with 30 keV helium ions increasing the dose from ca. 2 × 1015 to 1 × 1016 ions/cm2 (corresponding to an estimated vacancy defect concentration of

• introduction of lattice vacancy defects, and with an increase in the average interatomic distances due to swelling, that is, a magnetovolume effect. And in a recent report implementing in situ current–voltage characterization, site-selective helium ion irradiation of cobalt-based magnetic multilayer structures

• increasing dose the ferroelectric domains were gradually destroyed [57]. Optical properties In early work concerned with tuning optical properties with the HIM, arrays of nitrogen-vacancy centers were fabricated in diamond [58][59]. Starting with a diamond sample that already contained substitutional

Impact of GaAs(100) surface preparation on EQE of AZO/Al₂O₃/p-GaAs photovoltaic structures

• Piotr Caban,
• Rafał Pietruszka,
• Jarosław Kaszewski,
• Monika Ożga,
• Bartłomiej S. Witkowski,
• Krzysztof Kopalko,
• Piotr Kuźmiuk,
• Katarzyna Gwóźdź,
• Ewa Płaczek-Popko,
• Krystyna Lawniczak-Jablonska and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 578–592, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.48

• ]). The intensities of the defect bands in relation to each other and to the NBE band are associated with the route of AZO growth. The point defects usually observed in ZnO are: oxygen vacancy VO, zinc vacancy VZn, interstitial oxygen Oi, interstitial zinc Zni, and oxygen antisite OZn [44][45]. The

Properties of graphene deposited on GaN nanowires: influence of nanowire roughness, self-induced nanogating and defects

• Jakub Kierdaszuk,
• Piotr Kaźmierczak,
• Justyna Grzonka,
• Aleksandra Krajewska,
• Aleksandra Przewłoka,
• Wawrzyniec Kaszub,
• Zbigniew R. Zytkiewicz,
• Marta Sobanska,
• Maria Kamińska,
• Andrzej Wysmołek and
• Aneta Drabińska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 566–577, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.47

• main defects in the N500 sample (maximum of distribution at RDD’ is equal to 4.1). At least 98% of all types of defects in the N500 sample are grain boundaries, which is a higher value than the obtained for vacancy contribution in N0 and N100 samples (88% and 79%, respectively). The standard deviation

Bio-imaging with the helium-ion microscope: A review

• Matthias Schmidt,
• James M. Byrne and
• Ilari J. Maasilta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.1

• doped with the fluorescent nitrogen-vacancy defect as well as rare earth metal-based nanoparticles regarding bleaching under the ion beam. Although they are believed to be photostable under electron irradiation, the IL of the nanoscale diamonds decreased significantly under the ion beam even at doses